What's the best PDF Ereader at the moment?

[mrpotts]

Hi All,

I am looking for an ereader with specific PDF characteristics.

I need to be able to read a pdf on the ereader, highlight text, save, and then drag back to a PC without losing the pdf or highlights. Having text notes do the same thing would be awesome but I can compromise on this.

Is there anything that can do this yet? I've been watching the ereader market for two years and I still do not know if a device with these qualities is available and user-friendly. I prefer an ereader over a tablet due to weight and battery life.

Is the upcoming Que the best option for this? I am very interested in the Alex but I have read it is not good with PDF's. Does anyone know how the Alex is with this format?

Cheers,
Phil

[fishface]

Half of the Entourage Edge would have been perfect for you. I'll lend you a chainsaw.

I'm also keeping my eye out on this, no product that's currently on the market seems to support this right now but the technology is definitely available.

(EDIT: ok, except for the DR1000S/G which has various problems, is much too expensive, and is not being sold in the US right now)

[mrpotts]

Just got off the phone with Rusty who works at Springdesign.com and the Alex Ereader company. The Alex will have a large firmware update and also release the SDKin about a week. The newest Alex models, DS-11 & DS-12 will be out before Q3 so sometime in July/August. However highlighting will still not be available natively on the Alex. The best best will be an Android app allowing it on the LCD screen.

"SIGH", still really nothing out there that is affordable, uses EInk, and will allow me to use my hundreds of PDF tech manuals. Oh, the tortured life I lead!!

Phil

[davidspitzer]

iPad and iannotate

[Dulin's Books]

PocketBook allows you to clip the text to an html file.

[Dellaster]

Originally Posted by mrpotts

I need to be able to read a pdf on the ereader, highlight text, save, and then drag back to a PC without losing the pdf or highlights. Having text notes do the same thing would be awesome but I can compromise on this.

Hi, Phil. Welcome to MobileRead!

The problem, as I understand it, is DRM PDF support. Adobe Digital Editions PDFs don't offer a way to do this so, in order to not be limited to just non-DRM PDFs, device makers do annotation and highlights as a separate layer that's not a part of the actual PDF and which is saved in a separate file. It wouldn't be legal to alter the original DRM PDF. This means it's not portable -- there's no universal standard for such auxiliary files.

Something like that, anyway. If there were no DRM we'd already have a number of devices with such capabilities, I think.

[mrpotts]

Originally Posted by Dellaster

Hi, Phil. Welcome to MobileRead!

The problem, as I understand it, is DRM PDF support. Adobe Digital Editions PDFs don't offer a way to do this so, in order to not be limited to just non-DRM PDFs, device makers do annotation and highlights as a separate layer that's not a part of the actual PDF and which is saved in a separate file. It wouldn't be legal to alter the original DRM PDF. This means it's not portable -- there's no universal standard for such auxiliary files.

Something like that, anyway. If there were no DRM we'd already have a number of devices with such capabilities, I think.

If the PDF's are not DRM restricted would this still be a factor? I am not really understanding how the DRM is determined (PDF document properties?) and if it is possible to remove the DRM with software?

It seems that many, many people are in the same dilemma as me. We all want a EReader to handle, read, and comment on the thousands of PDF's we have been collecting all these years. Like it or not, PDF's are the current document standard. Is there an easy way to batch-convert PDF's to EPUB format while still keeping the PDF document properties? Does it matter if you have recognized the text in the PDF using the Acrobat OCR recognition?

So far I am still leaning towards the Alex but I'm not buying anything just this moment.

Thanks all,
Phil

[mrpotts]

IREX, probably the best PDF ereader at the moment going broke. The first of many companies killed in the schrapnel of Apple's IPad??

[zacitana]

Originally Posted by mrpotts

IREX, probably the best PDF ereader at the moment going broke. The first of many companies killed in the schrapnel of Apple's IPad??

I don't think iPad has much to do with it - these products cater to different needs. I was in a situation to choose between iPad and iRex dr800 and I chose iRex, because of the eInk, weight, battery life, and reading options (and I'm generally not impressed by shiny gadgets with enormous marketing machinery behind them). iPad didn't stand a chance really.

Btw, IMO iRex dr800 is a superior reader (maybe even outside the 8" or less category - bigger screen was tempting for a while, but I realized portability was an issue for me, so larger devices were a no go).

[tvpupsik]

Originally Posted by zacitana

I don't think iPad has much to do with it - these products cater to different needs. I was in a situation to choose between iPad and iRex dr800 and I chose iRex, because of the eInk, weight, battery life, and reading options (and I'm generally not impressed by shiny gadgets with enormous marketing machinery behind them). iPad didn't stand a chance really.

Nicely said

[PuneetOb]

I want an ereader for all my old pdfs.. any suggestion, whats better between Kindle & Nook? How easy/difficult is to upload pdfs on them?

[pboss]

Originally Posted by PuneetOb

I want an ereader for all my old pdfs.. any suggestion, whats better between Kindle & Nook? How easy/difficult is to upload pdfs on them?

Welcome to the forum! You may need to set your price range first unless money isn't a problem for you.

[vxf]

The SONY PRS900 is probably the best for your purposes.

It's not perfect. But it works. Especially if you crop margins with something like BRISS.

I am a PhD student in finance. My experience is mostly with PDFs from JSTOR and SSRN. But I read and annotate a lot.

[PuneetOb]

Originally Posted by pboss

Welcome to the forum! You may need to set your price range first unless money isn't a problem for you.

Thanks pboss.

Price - would like to keep it under $200.

I would have to import it from US to India - so I wish to have something with least possible probability of defect (as I wont be able to replace).. I was looking into kobo - but from the conversations on this forum, i realised that many Kobos require replacement.
Any suggestions?
How difficult it is to load pdfs onto them?

[mrpotts]

Originally Posted by vxf

The SONY PRS900 is probably the best for your purposes.

It's not perfect. But it works. Especially if you crop margins with something like BRISS.

I am a PhD student in finance. My experience is mostly with PDFs from JSTOR and SSRN. But I read and annotate a lot.

Hi,

So are you able to read, comment, and highlight PDF's on your EReader and then transfer the PDF to your computer with the comments/highlights showing up?

Cheers,
Phil